1. Field of the Invention
A spherometer is a measuring device that can be used to measure the thickness of a workpiece, or in connection with lenses to measure its sagital depth and other physical parameters, such as the radius of curvature of a lens. The measurements are usually made by comparing the amount of linear travel of a probe from a zero reference point to a workpiece. In order to calibrate the spherometer, the zero reference point is established by placing a calibration standard workpiece in the spherometer and measuring the difference between the amount of linear travel of the probe to the calibration standard workpiece and to the workpiece under test.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A typical spherometer is described in a paper entitled “Measuring The Radius Of Curvature By Means Of A Spherometer,” Physics Department, University of Illinois, September 1993, © 1999. Typical formulae used in the calculation of the height of curvature of an object and its radius of curvature are shown in the paper “Spherometer,” 3B Scientific GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, www.3bscientific.com.